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Congressmen Conyers, Clarke, and Peters request answers from Governor Snyder regarding their proposed Detroit Consent Agreement

By on March 22, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

In a comprehensive and sternly-worded letter to Governor Rick Snyder (pdf), Congressmen John Conyers, Jr., Hansen Clarke, and Gary Peters are asking for some answers regarding his administration’s proposed Detroit Consent Agreement.

The letter focuses on seven key areas:

  1. Failure of State to Provide Any Financial Assistance
    Governor Snyder is asked to explain why, unlike in other struggling cities across the country, they “will not consider the same types of financial partnership approaches utilized for cities such as New York, Cleveland, and Philadelphia”.
  2. Unconstitutional Limitation on Collective Bargaining
    During a legal forum held by Rep. Conyers last month, Kenneth Klee, a renowned expert on constitutional issues relating to bankruptcy testified:
    “[A]s currently drafted, the [Michigan EM Law] is violative of the Contracts Clause ..

    3. …


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Snyder administration denied appeal on prohibition against signing Consent Agreement with Detroit

By on March 22, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Rick Snyder

Ouch. That’ll leave a mark.

My favorite Michigan judge at the moment, Ingham County Judge William Collette, today issued yet another spanking to the administration of Governor Rick Snyder. The Snyder administration appealed a ruling made an earlier this week barring them from signing a Consent Agreement with Detroit until after a March 29th hearing. That hearing has been postponed twice at the request of the Snyder administration.

Today, Judge Collette denied their appeal. He said he felt “bushwacked” by the state’s request.

An Ingham County Judge this morning denied a request by Gov. Rick Snyder and the Detroit financial review team to lift his order that bars them from entering into a consent agreement with Mayor Dave Bing and Detroit City Council to address the city’s financial emergency until late next week.…

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Michigan judge bars Snyder administration from signing Detroit Consent Agreement – for now

By on March 20, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Rick Snyder

Can’t win for losin’…

The Snyder administration was handed another in a long list of legal setbacks today as my now-favorite judge, Ingham Country Judge William Collette, smacked them down again.

Recall that Judge Collette had already issued a mighty smackdown to the Detroit Emergency Manager Review Team earlier in the month:

An Ingham County judge this afternoon ordered all 10 members of the Detroit emergency financial review team to appear in his courtroom March 12 to answer why they should not be held in contempt for attempting to evade his finding that the review team is subject to the Open Meetings Act by forming a smaller committee to meet in secret.…

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The artlessness of the Snyder administration’s approach to imposing Emergency Managers

By on March 14, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Joe Harris, Pontiac, Rick Snyder

You don’t have to be a jerk about it

Last spring when I published exclusive audio of Benton Harbor Emergency Manager Joe Harris talking about crushing the unions, I was shocked at what he said and, more to the point, how he said it:

So, I’ve laid off twenty-five people. I’ve laid off nine police officers. I’ve laid off four fireman. I’ve haven’t’ done that yet but this Friday — after the townhall meeting. Oh, they know it’s comin’! They know it’s comin’! And I’ve laid off four EPW — I had nine major equipment or heavy equipment operators but only five pieces of heavy equipment.…

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Negative reactions to the Detroit Consent Agreement come fast and furious

By on March 14, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers

A Consent Agreement by any other name is still an Emergency Manager

Yesterday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder presented a Consent Agreement to the city of Detroit. You can read the 26-page Consent Agreement HERE (pdf). HuffPo Detroit has a great run-down of the key parts of the Consent Agreement HERE. There’s some surprisingly egregious stuff in there. Whoa.

Here’s the rather straight forward, if not harsh, condemnation of the proposal by Detroit Mayor Bing:

I’m tremendously disappointed that this consent agreement proposed by Governor Snyder does not represent the spirit of partnership needed between the City and the State to resolve the City’s financial challenges.…

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Judge issues stunning smackdown to Detroit Emergency Manager review team

By on March 1, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Managers

Yeeouch. That’ll leave a mark.

One of my newest heroes these days, Ingham County Judge William Collette has had just about enough of Governor Sndyer’s Detroit Emergency Manager review team. As I mentioned this afternoon in my Michigan Emergency Manager news round-up, this review team tried to circumvent the Open Meetings Act, which Judge Collette had already found them in violation of, by setting up a subcommittee that would continue to meet in secret.

Judge Collette is pissed.

An Ingham County judge this afternoon ordered all 10 members of the Detroit emergency financial review team to appear in his courtroom March 12 to answer why they should not be held in contempt for attempting to evade his finding that the review team is subject to the Open Meetings Act by forming a smaller committee to meet in secret.…

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Public Act 4 repeal signatures delivered + Michigan Emergency Manager New Round-up

By on March 1, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Manager Law, Emergency Managers, Highland Park, Rick Snyder

It just goes on and on and on and on

Lots of news to cover today. Make sure you click through to the jump page if you’re reading this from the front page of Eclectablog.

  • Stand Up For Democracy coalition delivers 226,637 petition signatures
    Yesterday, the Stand Up For Democracy coalition and Michigan Forward delivered well over the 160,304 signatures needed to put the repeal of Public Act 4 – Michigan’s Emergency Manager Law – on the November ballot to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office in Lansing.

    Here is Michigan Forward’s statement:

    Today, Michigan Forward, the Stand Up for Democracy Coalition and countless volunteers and supporters representing the labor, civic, and faith based communities from around the State of Michigan submitted 226,637 signatures to repeal the “Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act,” known as Public Act 4 (PA 4).

    • …


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Mitt Romney chooses empty, cavernous space for Detroit speech to a tiny crowd

By on February 24, 2012 in Barack Obama, Detroit, Mitt Romney, President Obama, Republican-Fail

Who thought THAT was a good idea?

I cannot for the life of me understand why he did it, but when Mitt Romney came to Detroit today, he chose the 65,000-seat Ford Field. It was such a bizarre choice that even the Detroit Free Press wrote about it.

Romney camp’s game plan: Make Ford Field look crowded
It won’t be hard to fit 1,200 members of the Detroit Economic Club into 65,000-seat Ford Field for today’s speech by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney.

What will be hard is making it look like Romney isn’t speaking to a nearly empty stadium.

…


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5 Things Michiganders Need to Know About Mitt Romney

By on February 24, 2012 in Detroit, Michigan, Mitt Romney

You know Mitt Romney is delusion about the Government-led rescue of the auto industry. He’s pretending that there was capital to save the industry from anywhere by Washington DC. Then he’s saying that he would have done everything Obama did, except he would have punished workers more while protecting Wall Street’s interests.

Mitt’s refusal to stand up for the auto industry is enough to lose Michigan for decades. But I think it’s important to understand why this man truly should scare you.

1. He doesn’t think of hiding the truth as lying. 
In 2002, Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts as a “moderate” and/or a “progressive.” His own words.…


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Wednesday afternoon Michigan Emergency Manager news round-up

By on February 1, 2012 in Detroit, Emergency Managers, Highland Park

It just goes on and on and on again…

  • Decision to close Highland Park school not made by Emergency Manager Jack Martin
    Contrary to what some outlets have reported, the decision to close Barber Focus school was NOT made by new Emergency Manager Jack Martin
    During a parent meeting on Monday, superintendent Edith Hightower announced that Barber Focus School would merge with Ford Academy. The decision to close Barber was made prior to Martin’s arrival without his knowledge, contrary to other published media reports.

    At the meeting, tempers flared with one attendee saying, “I’m sick of them in Lansing sending these black men in here to take over”, before being escorted out.

    • …


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